All Bets Off
by AmandaFaye
Summary: Set with Mac Surprise, Dangers of Denial, and Her Immortal, reunions, revelations, and changes are in store for the Scoobies, Angel survivers, lovers, and thieves and Highlanders.


Disc. AN. I do not own this. Universe wise- Her Immortal, MacSurprise and Dangers of Denial fit beforehand. Possibly in that order. I can attribute this chapter in the saga to disatisfaction with the Not to Be ending and continual fascination with Genesis 6.

The voices assailed him from every direction, each taking a turn at pointing out something painfully simple.

"Duncan Macleod," an amused voice, dry in wit.

"of the clan Macleod," rusty, teasing or disgusted one.

"like me, you have a hard time of dying.."

Sharply, "more of living, it seems.."

Now a strange one, still sharp though, "call that a bleedin' champion? Things I do for you, girl."

"Not my idea." that voice didn't seem to care about him, just was there for some reason. "Talk to him." Didn't sound like the him meant himself.

"Rather not, pet."

"Watch who you call pet, junior," the first voice again.

"Again, rather not talk to you."

"Would you all damp down?" the second voice snapped.

Names and gradually faces began matching to the voices in his mind. Methos, Joe Dawson, Connor, Amanda, and two that he couldn't put with any thing or any one he knew or had known.

He opened his eyes reluctantly, seeing that he was right as far as it took him. Amanda's hair was still that ridiculous growing out of whatever she had done to it stage. Joe looked...older. Connor was himself, the same could be said of Methos- but who was that blonde wrapped around him? And the other blonde that could be Amanda's son, from looks of the hair, if immortals could have kids and if she'd admit to being old enough to have a son that grown up?

"Whair am Ai?" he mumbled in a stronger brouge than he'd used in over a century.

"The new Watcher headquarters' executive living space," Joe told him.

"The better question, is ours, Highlander," Methos snapped. "What the bloody hell were you doing holed up in some ancient monastery in Wales living like some bloody Darwinian notion of a Neanderthal?"

"You knew the Neanderthal?" the blonde rock star wannabe looking man asked. "Tell me, if an astronaut without weapons showed up and got in a fight- wh-"

"Shut up, Spike," Connor snarled.

"I'm getting tired of that," Spike snapped back.

"Don't talk and ye won't get told to shut up," he replied reasonably.

"Better idea- no one talk and let Duncan talk," Amanda said, pitching her voice to rise above them all.

"What if I don't want to talk, woman?" he muttered.

"Sorry, darling, you don't get a vote. Disappearing like you did and making us think you planned on committing suicide kind of abdicates your right to remain silent. Besides, we're in Europe- do they have the Miranda warning here?"

"You should know if anyone," Methos smiled too nicely.

"What ever happened to the right of privacy?" a new voice asked, and a rush of power swept through, indicating a new Immortal had entered. Strange that it would show up even though there were at least three other Immortals in the room.

"It's unknown to Watchers," Joe replied.

"Did you ever think I can't get a word in edgewise for all yer bickerin'?" Duncan asked, still in a slurred Scot's accent. "First, who am I talking to that I don't ken- er know?"

Joe began pointing. "The punk is Spike- he's the one that killed you so we could get you home without a fight."

"Hey!"

"The girl with Methos is his latest- have you two made it official?"

"What, falling down on the job, Dawson?" Methos laughed. "No. "

"Girlfriend then. Buffy Summers, the Slayer, and an Immortal. The guy who just came in is Juan Via Lobo Ramirez."

"Connor's teacher- but he's--" Duncan gasped, now fully awake, and more than a bit scared. Last time the dead had started walking around had not been good.

"Long story- but it was a mistake," the newcomer rumbled. "My head is as attached as ever it was."

"Now it's your turn, " Methos prompted. "But I do have a theory. You holed up on Holy Ground so no one could challenge you until you had some vision that the next champion was in the area and then you were going to go out and sacrifice yourself on his - or her- blade."

"Then why are you asking me if you have all the answers?" Duncan snarled.

"I hoped I was wrong," the words, coming from the oldest man, were cutting in a way no one else could make them.

"You're ever wrong, fancy that," Spike quipped.

Duncan's neck hurt, even though he'd come back. Damn it, didn't they know that it hurt like the devil to be killed above the shoulders? "How'd he kill me?" he winced.

"Drained all your blood through the jugular," Buffy said. "Standard vampire method."

"Vampire?" Duncan scoffed. "Not Nicky's ilk running around again?"

"We've been through that one before, you missed class," Methos sighed. "There are vampires. Buffy's job is to kill them, except for exceptions, like Spike though no one really understand that one. When he lost his job, so to speak, he showed up here, and Buffy said he could stay."

"Vampires have jobs?"

"Sure, why not- he thinks his is champion," Methos shrugged. "Which is itself enough to convince you to not let just any champion wannabe that comes along take your head."

"Guys, let's stay on target here," Amanda interrupted. "Spike, you and Methos can go fight over Buffy while the rest of us talk to Duncan."

No one moved. "Fine," she said in exasperation. "But be quiet so he can talk."

Duncan could see that he had no choice, so he sat up better, still a bit dizzy. "Don't kill me like that again. Joe, Methos, look, you have read the chronicles of how I met the hermit and got invested with the champion's quickening. In less than a thousand years now, Ahriman will be back and whoever is here will need to have- to have that inside them. There is only one way for it to get there. This you know. And there can be only one in any case. At least I could know that I was giving myself to someone worthy."

"How noble, how self sacrificing," Methos cheered. "I'll call Mel and see if he needs someone for a sequel. Macleod, saving the world is not your job."

"But fighting Ahriman was," he argued. "Mel who?"

"You really have been out of it," Ramirez chuckled. "We'll get you caught up on current events later. Among them, several times since you dropped out,the world has been saved, without your help."

"See what you miss when you get all hermitty?" Buffy quipped.

"And during one of those times, the natural order was changed," Ramirez went on. "Feel free to correct me, Miss Summers, if I fumble the details. Since my own return, I've been whelmed by details beyond what I ever imagined. Young Dawson called Buffy the Slayer, you heard?" Duncan nodded, slightly awed by speaking to a legend on par with Methos, only one who'd never been diminished by knowing him. "She was supposed to be the 'only one', sound familiar? The only girl who could stand against the darkness and so on and so on. However, when one of this Ahriman's relatives showed up wanting to destroy the world, she was able to change things so that she was not the only one. So that all potential slayers were slayers for real. "

"So you're saying that when Ahriman shows up, the champion can instead be a group of attack girls?" Duncan sounded skeptical.

"Perhaps," Ramirez said, holding up a hand to silence Buffy's outrage. "What I am saying though is not that. I'm saying that if such a rule as that can change, why not more? And beyond that, no where does it say that the one to challenge the evil one must have your head - unless you live that long and do it again. Then perhaps you will need it yourself."

"You want to change the there can be only one rule?" Duncan asked, looking from Methos, to Connor, to Ramirez.

"I admit, it does sound rather classy, declarin' as you go for the kill, " Connor chuckled. "But, why not? Surely there's one or two of us you'd like to have around if you were the only one."

"I do hope so," Amanda purred.

"Ye ken I do," Duncan said, swiveling his head to find her eyes.

"Spike, you killed him too much, " Buffy scolded. "He can barely talk English."

"That is perfectly good Scottish, " Connor snapped.

"Outdated," Methos said, agreeing with Buffy. "But, I'm on the incline to believe that only one might be something that needs changing." His eyes were not on the Highlander, but on Buffy.

"And how would that be done, if it can be done?" the Highlander asked.

"Giles and Willow are working on it," Buffy said.

"Who?"

"You've got more folks to meet," Spike said. "Let's see, who've we left out- the tweedy wan- watcher, Giles. Red, or Willow, resident Witch. Xander, not sure what you'd call him. Dawn, Buffy's kid sister. Long story on her. Blue,"

"What do you have here, a pack of m and m's?" Duncan smirked. "Red, Blue?"

"Your snottiness will be excused, do to severe blood loss, this once," Buffy snapped.

"As I was saying, Blue, or Illyria. She's helping out with Giles. Just in case some of Fred is still alive in her head." His tone turned pensive. "And - oh yeah. When Ramirez showed up,he brought along a girl. Gin. Have you broken her of calling you Mac yet? It'll get confusing if we got three Macs around here."

"I answer to whatever Gin wishes to call me," Ramirez said mildly.

"Can understand that," Spike agreed.

Connor walked through the crowd, reaching down to haul his kinsman to his feet. "Come on, brother. I imagine you've not had a decent or even indecent Scotch in entirely too long. I owe you a drink or two."

"Or three or four," Duncan agreed.

"If someone's buying drinks, I"m going too," Methos announced.

"Me too- it'd be nice to be served for once," Joe added, rising stiffly.

Spike looked like he'd like to go too, then considered the company and decided to go bug Giles.

Amanda and Buffy included themselves as designated drivers.

Ramirez went in search of Gin. Things were still a bit tense around the older Macleod.

Sometime later, in a back corner in a bar where it was still early for many customers to be there, Duncan's head was swimming, and not just from beer or Scotch.

"Let me get this straight- Adam- that is still your name?- inherited a fortune from his "brother" Melvin Corwyn. He was about to go check it out in Italy, but wanted to say goodbye to Alexa for a while first. Buffy met him in the graveyard in Paris early one morning, and thought he was a -"

"Bad puppy with sharp teeth," Buffy smiled, ignoring Joe's snicker.

"Yeah," Duncan deadpanned. "Can see where that might happen. And Adam realized that she didn't know how long her lifeline was when she didn't understand his cemetary lecture. So you and Joe educated her, and so began a grand romance. "

"With me and Adam, not me and Joe," Buffy added.

"Then, a while after that, Spike and a couple of others showed up after leaving Wolfram and Hart under less than ideal circumstances- and Buffy has a history with Spike."

"So far you get an A, Highlander," Methos agreed.

"Then, out of the blue, the world starts ending, due to a -"

"Temporal disturbance due to someone being in the wrong plane of existance," Buffy said matter of factly.

"So you broke this person out of a loony bin and the temporal got in a better temper. Once that was calmed down, Joe went to New York to see his daughter get married, and Adam was invited too."

"Amy liked me after I saved her life," Methos nodded.

"Where Amanda and another Mac happened to be in jail needing to break out. And Mac is Ramirez, who never died, but Connor thought he was dead because another student happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong clothes."

"Excellent, Highlander. You display an amazing grasp of things," Adam said. "That deserves a toast."

"And now you want to change the rules that have lasted for Millenia," the last was stated flatly.

"Sure, why not? Game's getting old, time to update," Methos opined.

"I still say tis a daft idea," Connor pronounced.

"How did Connor get here again?" Duncan asked.

"Simple. Joe got a rumor of where you were and what you were doing, so we decided to save you from yourself. Connor was summoned, Amanda had to be in on it, and Ramirez and Gin came along for the ride because he wanted to patch things up with Connor."

"And Amanda won't tell him where the money is hidden," Joe added.

"What money?"

"I'll never tell," she said sweetly over her wine spritzer.

"Then this Giles fellow that watches Buffy, Joe, and Spike?- what kind of name is that?- found me and Spike bit me?"

"Total exsanguination is a very effective method of keeping one down for a long time," Methos informed him superiorly. "Ones of us as - experienced at dying as you are and having absorbed so much power, tend to not stay dead well. "

"How'd you know going it that's work?" Duncan challenged.

Connor and Methos both winced. "Trial and error- we figured that between Kurgan and Silas, both of us might have somewhat similiar power cores. "

Amanda cleared her throat, "He experimented on moi as well."

"Yeah, but you enjoyed it," Methos sniped. "And you were out a lot longer than either of us. I think he made it more painful for me." His demeanor changed to a glare. "Joe- if you don't quit that infernal snickering noise, I'll reinstate my medical license and examine your throat for a displaced vocal cord."

They were saved from further sparring by the bell - or at least a ring tone to the tune of Princes of the Universe. With the exception of Duncan who'd not yet gotten a cell phone after reentering the real world, such as it is, all the Immortals had to look to see if it was them.

It was Buffy. "Hey, Giles. You found something, we'll be right there. "

Hanging up, she grinned. "Daft or not, Giles' research mojo found something."

Methos allowed them to finish their drinks before returning to the imposing mansion his version of the Watchers had sold Giles' recreated council for an outrageous sum.

Giles held court in the apartment suite's centre room, fumbling with a power point projecter until he gave up, chunking with a clatter onto the ground.

"As I was trying to illustrate, the Immortals' Watchers and the Slayers' Watchers were once upon a time, one group. The Immortals were formed from the Nephilim who were born under the age of accountability at the time of the great flood or who were yet unborn. Which explains why they apparently are parentless. "

"Does that mean we're Illyria's offspring?" Methos asked with a frown, not sure he wanted to call the blue woman mom, even though at one time his face had been painted very similiarly.

"It would be impossible to identify wh- who was sprung f-from whom, but it is possible that one of you might have been...hers."

"Ian and Mary Mcleod were my parents, " Duncan stated, flatly, ignoring the way he had been disowned.

"Blood doesn't make families," Dawn asserted, never taking her eyes off the Scottish hunk.

Amanda recognized puppy love beginning, and given Mac's fondness for vulnerable young non Immortals, she moved possessively closer.

"Didja have any kids, Blue? If one of them is, would you put him in time out for say a century or two?" Spike asked brightly.

Illyria cast her disdainful gaze over them all, shaking even Connor a bit. "I do not recognize any of them as being formed of my substance."

"Er right," Giles fidgeted. This strange being still discomforted him after the weeks she and Spike had taken residence with their little band of Scoobies. "In any case, the Watchers hoped to form an army of powrful beings who could fight as the Slayer did, but there was a problem. Some of them were a bit agressive, and demonstrated inclinations of world conquest. " Methos' mien rivaled Illyria's for impassiveness. "Therefore, they cast another spell, one that would scatter them all, you all throughout time, and also devised the rules of the game to try and recapture the original purpose, thinking that if you were narrowed down to one, only one, you'd all be more manageable."

"Yeah, them and their micromanaging," Buffy snorted.

Joe pointedly kept his gaze straight ahead, waiting for what was to come.

Ten, nine eight, one

"DID you know about this?" Duncan exploded.

"There's a lot of yous in the room," Xander quipped. "But as a you, I did not." Willow kicked him.

"Ixnay umorhay," she hissed.

"The Watchers," Connor's soft and deadly voice clarified for his cousin.

"I wasn't around then- when I was recruited it was just observe and record, and try not to interfere." Joe snapped.

Methos felt the icy gaze on him. "I didn't found the Watchers. Rumors to the contrary. I didn't even know about them until after I left the Horsemen. If I had known about them, do you even think for one minute that the whole Methos rumor would have ever gotten started? No. Much less if I'd founded them. "

"He's got a point," Amanda agreed, trying to difuse the M bomb.

"I guess you could just take my head and see the truth up close and personal, "Methos jibed.

"METHOS!" Buffy squealed. Then, glared at the Highlanders. "Try it and even if you win, you're gone next. "

Giles looked nervously at his carefully arranged ancient books and calculated the effects of multiple quickenings. It did not look good.

"No, I believe him, " Duncan sighed. "Side effect from the Horsemen incident. He can't lie - to me."

"Runs both ways, boyo," Methos returned coolly.

"He's Scotch, not Irish, ye dumb idjit," Connor groused. Spike gave him a thumb's up, which prompted said idjit to tack on,

"Scots really dislike the English." Methos' grin was unbearably smug.

Having had enough, Illyria proceeded to upend Giles' desk, heedless of Willow's dismayed cry as the laptop crashed to the floor.

"Cease this pointless bickering. You make my shell's headspace ache."

"You heard mum," Spike grinned.

"So, the whole Champion thing-?" Duncan asked. "We were meant to battle Ahriman..."

"Yes, quite. But also other evils. However, since that whole mission statement has been rather lost in the whole Game business and skewed by the fact that some of you are more likely to want to work with the Ahriman types than to battle them, then, it is quite fortunate that the prior Champion or you either were called, though it would seem his suicide was rather pointless in light of the way the legends have deteriorated over the aeons and-"

"There is no Game, really, " Methos cut in, straight to the heart of the matter. "It's all been one huge lie to keep us all in line since forever."

All eyes were focused on the ancient one suddenly. His anger was not as violent as Duncan's, but the cold fire was equal or greater than the Scot's loud bluster.

"We've been killing each other for NOTHING."

"Yea, but how often have the good guys killed each other, mostly you've whacked the bad ones like that Cloud guy or Callus," Xander tried to lighten the mood.

Methos did not reply but shot the Highlander a look that recalled a few times when the "good guys" had fought each other.

Joe caught it, "Yeah, but he was nuts- and under evil influence- at the time, no offense Macleod, and you were trying to stop _Kalas, _by being sacrificial for once."

"For once?" Methos sniped.

"And sure there've been assorted grudges between good guys," Joe went on, causing Amanda's eyes to shoot daggers at his unprotected head. "But come on, all of these would have happened with or without the game. "

"So, do we need a spell?" Willow asked, nervously.

"Only if you can do a mass communication one," Connor answered. "It's naught mystical, just bad pr."

"And manipulative bastards," Ramirez threw in, "of course, I mean in the distant past."

Gin finally said something, "So we don't have to all kill each other?"

"Apparently, not," Methos agreed. "Damn, but that fake me was right all along. That's the part that gets me."

"He was a bad imitation, old man, " Joe consoled. "No one who knows you would ever get you two mixed up."

Methos started to say something smart alecky, but then shut his mouth, not sure if he'd been insulted or not.

"Well, this means I can answer your question, finally, Macleod," Ramirez laughed.

"What question would that be?" Connor asked, thinking how many he'd asked the stuffed haggis.

"If at the end, it is just you and I, would I kill you?" Ramirez reminded. "Apparently, I could just walk away."

"Are you sure I would?"

Before anyone could answer, Buffy took over. "I'm agreeing with Illyria- enough of this. Spike, I'm with Methos now- it may not last forever, but apparently all three of us will be around a while, so who knows, we might be back together someday, but not if you don't lose the 'tude. Connor, Ramirez didn't cause Heather to be hurt, and he wasn't even around to do anything. Granted, the fact that someone you at least care about could be alive for a good while and not even bother to call or however they communicated then, kinda burns, but gotta get over it. " Her eyes were not on Connor or Ramirez at that point. "Sure he had his reasons. Lame or not. Mac, you get to live. Get over it or just go back to Holy Ground and be a monk forever or hold still so I can fix that problem for you. Amanda- oh- you didn't do anything. Guess I'm done."

Xander and Willow got out their wallets and handed Giles some cash.

"What was that?" Amanda asked, pointing to the exchange.

"Oh, we had a bet about how long it'd be before Buffy made a speech," Xander admitted guilessly ."Giles' guess was closest. Dawn lost ages ago, she didn't think you'd make it a month."

Willow looked guilty and nervous.

"Red, if you offer any cookies, " Spike warned.

"You know, " Amanda interrupted, "It's been ages since I've seen the Macleod boys spar- best show in town."

Joe blew her a kiss surreptiously. "Bring on the Princes of the Universe."


End file.
